


Birthday People

by NewLeeland



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: A bit of unplanned Angst too, Birthday Fluff, F/M, From an AU series I talk about a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 11:16:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12364563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NewLeeland/pseuds/NewLeeland
Summary: Jyn's 21st birthday isn't something she would prefer to celebrate. Still, Cassian is determined to get her mind off things.





	Birthday People

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kobo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kobo/gifts).



> A birthday present written for Kobo, you are just as awesome as a beta as you are as a friend. Without you, my actual contributions to this fandom would have been far fewer.
> 
> So, I hope you enjoy this present and have not only an amazing birthday, but also an amazing year! May the USWNT give you some additional presents later this week. ;) Happy birthday, my friend!
> 
> Ok, so this is set in my Rogue One AU that’s in some permanent state of hiatus and being written: Instead of going back for Galen, Lyra goes with Jyn and they are both found by Saw Gerrera. When Jyn is 16, Lyra and Jyn find their way to the Alliance. While Lyra becomes part of Mothma’s staff, Jyn aces her tests and catches the attention of General Draven, who proposes to pair her up with another young and promising Intelligence agent…
> 
> This oneshot takes place a few months before the events of Rogue One. Cassian and Jyn have become a couple a couple weeks ago after finally admitting their growing feelings during a mission.
> 
> Now, Jyn’s having her 21st birthday and Cassian is determined to make it special.
> 
> Special thanks to Pingou for "substituting" as a beta! :)

* * *

If she was honest with herself, Jyn would have preferred to spend the day holed up in their quarters. Sleeping in, maybe reading a bit. Some light sparring later, a bite of food and a holo movie, a silly one who didn’t require too much thinking.

It was funny how people dealt with birthdays in a galaxy where you just had to leave one planet to have entirely different day lengths. A month on Carilo had 21 days, one on Ondai VI 87. Yes, the Empire had invented a standard calendar and so had the Republic, but still. It was kinda vague.

Jyn didn’t remember much of her early childhood, but Lyra had told her stories when she was younger. About the coldness on Vallt, how they were imprisoned (albeit under less severe circumstances), how happy her father had been once he had met his daughter.

The memories of Coruscant and Lah’mu, those were much, much clearer. More painful too. They made her miss her papa even more.

Jyn had learnt not to show her vulnerable side to the galaxy. Lyra, Saw, even Draven and Cassian had taught her that and she had been a gifted student. But no matter what face you presented the world, it would not change your inner sadness.

She remembered one birthday on Coruscant - the last one on the planet - quite well, especially due to one of the gifts she received: A plushy stormtrooper doll she had named Stormie. Not very original, but hey, she had been five.

_And people tell me I’m such a bright person. Fools._ She thought, but there was no bite in it.

She had loved Stormie to pieces. He had been the first thing she grabbed when her mother came into her room that fateful night and told her they had to leave. She had clutched him when they were flown to Lah’mu and whenever she would explore the hills and beaches around their farm, Stormie was always with her.

Just like her mother and Cassian, he had yet to leave her.

When her papa had been taken, she had put Stormie in her rucksack, along with a datapad, some food and water and a small lantern. Hiding in her hole, she had clutched the toy to her chest, silently begging any known entity to bring back her parents.

After what felt like hours, part of her prayers had been answered. Her mother had returned, looking even more worried than usual, but also alive, warm and with open arms.

They had changed locations dozens of times after that, but in the one rucksack she had carried through all these years, there was always Stormie. She hadn’t forgot that his bigger and differently coloured brothers had taken her papa from her and that over the years, she had killed a fair share of stormtroopers. Still, the old toy was a treasured belonging and despite being a symbol of everything she fought against, it was a remainder of the days her papa had been in reach whenever she needed him.

Of course, he wasn’t out in the open anymore. Even Cassian had only seen him once or twice. But he was still there. A memory of happier times.

* * *

Cassian was well aware that Jyn wasn’t a birthday person. He wasn’t much of one either, to be fair. _For the same reasons, I suppose._ It reminded both of them of more joyful times. Times when their families were still whole.

Granted, Jyn still had Lyra while Cassian’s parents had both died years ago. Still, he didn’t envy her. Knowing that your father was alive, but out of your reach and forced to work for the Empire? He knew he would have a hard time dealing with that.

Which was why he was so fixated on getting her out of their quarters today. Jyn would think about her father no matter what she did, but maybe this time, a bit celebrating would take her mind off of him. At least for a few hours.

* * *

“You don’t have to drag me, Cassian, I’m coming.” Jyn tried to pout, but she couldn’t keep the laugh out of her voice. She felt quite uncomfortable with holding hands in the public, especially amongst hundreds of other rebels on base, but the feeling of her hands linked with his gave her a sense of security, of a home she had missed for a long time.

“I’m just making sure you won’t escape. I promised the new batch of recruits they would be safe from you today,” he replied, a mischievous smile lighting up his often serene and unreadable face.

“That’s only one more reason to show up there. Give them a lesson that they should be prepared for everything. Including bad intel,” she added, a small jibe at him. She was Intelligence too, but that didn’t keep her from joking about their profession.

“Come on, you can give them one day off. Plus, Kes and Shara are waiting. And you’re legally allowed to drink from today on!”

“Cassian, you remember I grew up around Partisans, do you? And the cocktail party on Serenno five weeks ago? I don’t think they served muja juice back there.”

“Yes, yes, but that was a mission. This is relaxing!”

Jyn actually came to a standstill when he said that. Cassian kept walking, but as their hands were still linked, one small pull turned him around. He almost stumbled out of surprise, but managed to stay on his feet.

“Who are you and what have you done to Cassian Andor?” Jyn asked with fake concern in her voice. Her eyes sparked with mischief. It made them look even more memorable and he had to fight against the urge to kiss her.

“I am Cassian Andor. And I have done nothing to him. You have.”

Great, now she had to kiss him before he started saying even more sappy things in public.

But even Jyn wasn’t lying to herself about not wanting to do that.

With one hand, she grabbed the collar of his jacket, with the other his chin. One rough, one tender and pulled him down to her level to press their lips together softly.

At the mess hall door, Kes Dameron turned around and went back to the table where his girlfriend Shara, Jyn’s mother Lyra and several others - pilots, Pathfinders and various Rebels  - were waiting.

“What’s taking them?” Shara asked when she saw him, looking up from her chat with Lyra.

Kes just smirked as he nudged her side to get her to scoop up a bit and took his place on Shara’s right side on the bench. “They’re just having appetizers outside. They’ll be here soon.”

* * *

It was a nice evening in the end: Kes and Shara were always pleasant company, funny, but not inappropriately cheerful and even poor Cassian didn’t get teased too much. The story of Jyn’s and Cassian’s first meeting - retold by Kes, who hadn’t even been there - was always a hit, no matter how often it had been detailed. The details alone were the objects of speculation and as time went by and they had a few drinks, even Shara got more inquisitive.

“So, Cassian, did you already knew back then that you had the heart eyes for her?”

Cassian nearly choked on his beverage. Despite being way more relaxed, he was still on his second drink of the night. “Are you kidding me, Bey? She was sixteen back then!”

“So? I was sixteen when I first saw Kes and…” Her boyfriend intervened, silencing her with a kiss. Cassian was grateful, as Lyra had been suddenly paying all the more attention to them. He liked Jyn’s mother, she was just as passionate and invested as her daughter, but maybe that’s why despite all his skills he had a lingering fear she might drag him into a quiet corner one day and give him an extended shovel talk. Lyra had been nothing but delighted by the fact her daughter’s colleague was now more than that, but she was still the mother of a 21-year-old woman.

Heck, they were all so young. Kes was the oldest at 24, one year older than Cassian and two years older than Shara. War made them appear older, hardened and tired, but in moments like this one, he found new energy to fight.

He had yet to give Jyn her present, which was waiting back at their quarters. Nothing fancy, just a useful little pocket-knife with several more features like a lockpick and other tools. Jyn had one back from her time with the Partisans, but it was aged and damaged from their last mission. She might not be one for grand gifts, but little trinkets that could be helpful never failed to get one of her beautiful smiles out of Jyn.

* * *

Kay had congratulated her earlier although he mused that he “did not understand the need for human beings to celebrate the fact that their body was one year closer to their deterioration.” Still, the hulking droid had volunteered to take over some of their duties so both could have a day off. For all his grumbling, Kay did care.

* * *

They were in bed before the next day had even started, it was war after all. Shara had carried Kes back to their own bunk, Lyra had hugged both Jyn and Cassian before leaving for her quarters and Kay had gone to check on the U-wing. Just in case, he had said. Considering the droid was rather insensitive when it came to Human needs, he found quite a lot of reasons to give Jyn and Cassian some private time.

“It wasn’t such a bad day after all, was it?” Cassian asked, stroking Jyn’s hair while she dozed, her head resting on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

“No,” she replied, voice heavy with content and sleep. “It wasn’t”.

Cassian smiled and pressed a kiss to the crown of her hair before closing his own eyes and pulling her tighter towards him.

* * *

Light years away, on the other side of the galaxy, Galen Erso was sitting in his quarters, facing the glass windows that were pelted by the ongoing rain of Eadu. It seemed to be an appropriate atmosphere for his mood.

He had finished work early today, being all frantic instead of his normal serene self. But today, he wanted a few moments for himself. With his family.

Or better: The pale picture he had of them instead.

Krennic had given it to him a few years ago to reward him after a successful minor test. It had to be taken only a few years after Jyn’s birth. She was so tiny on it. He looked so young. Lyra was as beautiful as ever.

At times, looking at the hologram made him more sad than happy. Were they still alive? Did Jyn grow up to look like her mother? Did she have her mother’s passion? Or his quiet disposition instead? Was one of them alive and the other not?

Krennic had offered more than once to reinforce his attempts to search for them, had asked Galen for help. Surely, her husband knew where Lyra would go, which people she would ask for help.

“You know how bad the galaxy is out there, Galen. How can you bear not knowing what has happened to them or will happen. Think of Jyn. A life on the run. Is this what you want for your daughter? She would be safe here. They both would be. You would have anything your heart would desire.”

As the weak man he was, he was tempted in dark hours. But he could never let Krennic get his hands on either of them. No, the Director wasn’t his friend. Maybe he never had been. Krennic needed him to built his weapon. Nothing more.

No, his reunion with Jyn and Lyra - if it ever were to happen - would have to wait. If he was lucky, he would see them again one day.

Until then, he had work to do.

* * *

Years later, when not one, but two Death Stars had turned into nothing but stardust, Cassian and Jyn had some birthdays to celebrate. It was Kay who deadpanned at their son’s fourth birthday party that “it seemed like they had become ‘birthday’ persons” after all.”

Jyn laughed as hard as she dared with her daughter sleeping on her shoulder.

Cassian ruffled his son’s stubborn hair. “It seems you’re right, Kay.”

The droid just huffed, clearly pleased. “I always am.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this was supposed to be fluffy, then it turned angsty and then I added a cheesy happy ending. I don’t know what I am doing sometimes. Really, the original idea was just the party, but in the end, the party is virtually non-existent. *sigh* Still, I hope it was a decent read.


End file.
